Favorite rods

Has anyone used these? Opinions?

yep use my favorites all the time. That's why they are my favorites.

Again?

Its emoji day. Don't ask questions, just respond with your favorite emoji.

Their warranty policy is not as strong as brands like Dobyns, St. Croix, etc.

I am confused... why are you using emojis? I understand that it’s emoji day but I don’t speak emoji and I am not 15 .

I don’t understand

I dont use junk

I have and they suck.Now what are they?

I thought they suck but a guy at Bass Pro said there great for the money. I didn’t believe him so I thought I would ask.

I’m soooo confused, is there actually a brand of rods named “favorite rods”? Or did the OP forget some critical info in his post?

Anyways I use Power Tackle Rods, not some other junk that is usually bright white or yellow.

I have some! Favorite rods, not "FAVORITE" brand rods.....

I just looked them up, the answer is no and always will be, I bet WAWI has some though

Favorite rods is now a brand name and this question gets asked on here over and over again.

Most everyone on here will tell you they suck, because they do.

Nah.....I bet they don't totally suck. I bet they are just an average rod. Made in China. Probably costs $25 to make and sells for $100. Probably better than a Berkeley shock or an UglyStik.......maybe.

I would fish one till it broke, if it were given to me. I'd never spend more than $5 to buy one.

I gotta a couple of those cheap a$$ All Star rods at Academy and lov'em. They hold my reel and the line goes through the eyes real good and so far the fish don't seem to mind. So ........

They’re good enough for MDJ and Andy Morgan.

I’m sure all that’s true but the same could be said for every rod because margins must substantiate business costs. Take G.Loomis for example: a phenomenal rod that would otherwise be more affordable if it were manufactured overseas. It isn’t so much that their rods are worth $500 than it is their requirment to offset their cost to build in the U.S.

I personally am a Falcon guy but my son has a few Favorite rods and they actually seem like pretty good rods. Some feel better than others.

They look and feel cheap to me. Never fished with one so I’m not 100% however they were marketed really well due to the name and the youtubers that hopped on board.

Its really hard to throw "Pros" names in when comparing rods. These guys go where ever they are paid more money. That's why you see guys bouncing around all the time.
As far as their rods go, Ive played around with a few of them. Mainly the Googan rods. They do feel cheap to me, and not well built. I know a lot of them were returned to Cabelas for breakage issues. Like said before, these rods are prolly coming from China already built. But not sure. They have some new higher end rods out, but have yet to lay a hand on them. But I would think they are not far off the others.
My personal opinion is you can get way more bang for the buck with another rod brand.

Just what the world needs, another rod company. It's really become comical how many are out there now. I've not heard of or seen these rods until I read this post so I have nothing to offer the OP. I think for someone with the time it would be fun to list all of the rod companies that have been started in the last 5 years. It has to be a big number.

Favorite Rods = Googan Squad

Googan Baits = Googan Squad

These guys have made videos showing how they went to Icast and boat shows (remember the Phoenix boats video) and asked companies to work with them based on their subscribers. The one I saw from LunkersTV was saying that 2 years ago they had 60K subscribers. No one really wanted to work with them and didn't put much merit in their subscriber base.

When they showed up at Icast this year with a bus with the Favorite Logo on it and their Googan Baits display they had over a million subscribers collectively.

LunkersTV is now at 994K subscribers. That's a lot of influence by anyone's standards.

That's great, but what does xxxx amount of subscribers account to? How many have subscribed, but don't watch the videos? They're obviously selling plenty of products.

This is what I have seen from Rob's marketing strategy. He was in the military for x amount of time. Post military, he purchased video production equipment and started putting out dramatized videos about being in the military. He purchased a video game competition league, where he is able to communicate to mass amounts of gamers. He then launched his fishing videos, labeling them in ways, along with his military videos, to draw clicks. He gave away free stuff periodically to garnish more followers.

His target audience? I would say pre-teens and younger teens. Those are the ones majority playing video games and watching YouTube. They are also the ones whose parents purchase them things that they want to keep them happy. As long as people continue having kids, his audience and target market will continue to replenish as those grow out of the phase or on to new ventures. His market audience is also in the age group that believes everything they see on the internet. Once he gained a mass following, anyone who questions or challenges what he says is berated by his teenager army.

I have watched very few of his videos, only to get an idea of how he got to where he is today. I remember when he started and it is interesting to see how he has gained the success that he has.

Best way I've seen it explained yet.

This age group is allot larger than the TFF thinks IMO. Plenty of people 20-30 years old are in this category to, remember everyone else outside of the TFF isn't a pro angler with years of experience fishing.

I know many TFF'ers get rubbed the wrong way by this subject. But as an observer with no dog in this hunt, I can't help but notice the number of entries at the high school fishing events. Seems this segment of the market is the fastest growing.

Guys like me in my early 50's have decided that the fish will bite 3 main colors. I buy about 5 different plastics in those 3 colors. Same thing with hard baits. I'm getting away from a myriad of colors and tackle and overly simplifying things. This other segment however is not and I would think all of these guys are sitting on a gold mine.

We've preached "take a kid fishing" for years now... personally I'm glad to see it finally working

.... as a casual observer

You're right Jake. And Im not just on TFF. Im on other sites as well that are not in Texas. And its the same thing every where you go. They've basically been run off every site because of the way they re-act to criticism. Their following all say the same thing..."haters, jelousy, call everyone old people, they are making money and you are not, etc." All those comments make me absolutely laugh. One guy even said they can smoke anyone fishing on any of these sites!
I just call it like I see it. Anybody can take trips and hire guides and film. That's not hard. Anybody can catch fish out of ponds. That's easy. What they've done that I do commend them on is getting kids in the tackle box and off the Xbox. That, I give them props for.

Its also a group of followers that aren't spending a whole lot on fishing yet.


Its a youtube channel with some 10" worms and creature baits! Earth shattering!

rods are junk, including a few tour pros. used to watch the googan videos and LFG just to see if they were fishing any local lakes in DFW. They are unwatchable, LFG has been sucked into their douchery

I have fished with one of the Favorite Rods. It had very similar action and feeling to my other Abu Garcia Veritas Rods. That being said it was a friends rod that I borrowed. I personally would buy one if it was a good deal. I liked the action and feel and didn't feel cheap.

As far as how they are marketed, they have every right to market how they see fit. They have the ability to reach hundreds of thousands of people through You-tube, go them. In the end, it is a newer company and they are looking for any way to get their name and word out there.

There’s some truth in alot of what’s said in here, I also think there’s a little unnecessary hate. I watch their channels (I’m 38 for anyone counting) and I also see a lot of kids saving all their money to buy a $100 lunkerstv rod or saving to buy a pack of each of the googan baits. As a father of two teen boys, anything that draws a kid into fishing and maybe keeps them out of trouble ain’t bad. I respect what they do, and wish them much more success doing what most dads can’t do.... get their kids fishing.

Eh.....never mind.

I guess I didn't like hearing about the guys antics. That's all.

My 2 cents.

There is obviously a market that they have tapped. If I am looking for someone to market my product I think I would take a chance on someone with a Million followers. It’s crazy that Brandon Palanuk only has 22k subscribers! His videos are LEGIT!

I just watched his most recent video, his cinematography is the best.

I understand that. I recall the stories of his behavior on Rayburn. Hopefully he’s grown out of it. I know I did some dumb stuff in my 20’s.

OK.. I'm 65 going on 66 in August. I'm also self employed. My business did not require much marketing as its not a retail business.. but I admire what the Googans have done to create a brand and to have it be successful. I really don't understand all of the animus against them for creating a successful business in fishing. Favorite Rods.. I've never fished with one.. have had one in my hand at Fun N Sun.. but I have no clue how well they fish. But Favorite Rods is a company that worked with the Googans on rod designs, working with them on action, feel.. etc. They are made in Korea.. like a lot of stuff these days.. they have rods at the $79 price point all the way up to the $500 range. I know that because I watched LFG's video from Icast. The point being is these guys have come up with a business model that appears to be working. What is the problem? The gear they are promoting, they had input on the design.. rods and baits.. and people are buying them. Its just crazy that so many people have such a negative reaction to somebody that being successful using a technology that is open to everybody but takes a little bit of an extroverted personality to use. Looking into a camera and coming across as somebody semi likable is not easy. I haven't bought anything Googan.. I bought a Make Every Cast Count Tshirt to help with LFG's brain surgery.. but I have no problem with what they are doing. More power to them for coming up with a way to make a living fishing.. other than tournament fishing.
BD

It's almost like comparing documentaries against drama/action movies. Matt Allen, Brandon Palaniuk, Jason Sealock, etc.. produce "documentaries", while the Googans produce drama/action. Drama/action movies almost always out sell documentaries.

These kids have y'all all fired up! too funny!!

But what makes them (favorite rods) junk/suck? I caught my PB on a $20 academy rod...

Couldn’t agree more. I’m a veteran and it pisses me off when he plays the Veteran card to get more subs! Sharing the story on when you first shot someone isn’t cool. Especially when you have all these youngsters watching your videos. Dudes a D-bag in my opinion and Rackley is following suit.

Cheap resin, cheap guides, poor build quality. That's what makes a junk rod.

As for what you caught your PB on? Congrats. One of my favorite rods (haha) is an Ethos H2O HD rod I got for $23 on clearance. I caught a SAL on it last weekend. Fish don't give a [censored] how much you pay for a rod. Trust me. Neither do I. I, however, like knowing I got what I paid for and it is at least a semi well made product that will last accordingly.

10-4 Thanks

There’s a big difference in what Palaniuk is doing and the content he’s creating vs the Googan content. It’s a completely different audience. One is solid content that’s well produced the other is simple entertainment and that’s what kids want to see.

The Googan’s work for some brands but simply lack credibility with the core angling base and competitive crowd. A forty year old sees right through it, a fourteen year old can’t. Simple deal really.

Subscribers don’t matter, paying customers do. I’m sure they’re moving rods for Favorite or they wouldn’t be around and have that kind of footprint at the Classic and ICAST. Time will tell if their platform can stand the test.

Shyrock
Palaniuk
Wheeler

and a few more all make good videos.

I know you have a strong hatred for the Squad. Few months ago you made the comment that these guys weren't even making enough money to pay for their internet service. Just wondering if you still believe that or if you want to admit how wrong you were?